The misadventures of a wealthy Manhattan family who adopted the children of their late African American housekeeper from Harlem. Ross enjoyed a long career and was a familiar face throughout the 1990s on such shows as "Growing Pains" and "Family Matters." Featuring Conrad Bain, then best known for his role as Dr. Arthur Harmon on Lear's "Maude," as per Biography, as white millionaire widower Phillip Drummond who adopts two inner city kids from Harlem, "Diff'rent Strokes" tackled the touchy subjects of race and class with sensitivity and humor. much to ", Before landing the TV role for which he would become best known, Bain acted on Broadway, with a role in "The Iceman Cometh," in films including Woody Allen's "Bananas," and on the sitcom "Maude.". Arnold and Dudley (and often Robbie) shared many childhood escapades together, and were featured in many episodes, school-based and otherwise, throughout the show's run. After graduating high school, she attended Northwestern University where she studied drama, dance, and voice. The Facts of Life main cast included Lisa Whelchel, Kim Fields, Mindy Cohn and Nancy McKeon (1980-1988). Rae starred as Mrs. Garrett (Mrs. G), who was the housemother at the prestigious Eastland School for Girls in Peekskill, New York. He had another recurring role on the hit ABC TV series Family Matters as "Weasel". Coleman secretly wed his girlfriend of five months, Shannon Price, 22, on August 28, 2007. Whatchoo Talkin' 'Bout, Shout! In 1984, I was co-starring in the Broadway musical, "The Tap Dance Kid". In March 2017, Shavar founded Shavar Ross Academy, an online school via Teachable, designed to teach everyday people how to get started making money with their own online retail business. a lesbian and was only experimenting). Nicole "Nikki" Swasey Seaton played Arnold's arch-nemesis, Lisa Hayes, in about 13 or They realize they don't like the effects of cigarettes, but the real persuasion to have them kick the habit comes from Arnold and Dudley give into peer pressure and experiment with smoking. In 1999, she appeared in the movie Abiliene would be nice to see any of them again. As Goodman's fame Plato's publicized brushes with substance abuse contributed to this decision, resulting in her dismissal from the series at the end of the sixth season. Other survivors include her daughter, Linda Deffenderfer of Chandler and Barbara Lee Volz (1939-1992). figure and lust for her fellow femmes in a series of sensual scenes. of his medical condition, he would never grow any taller than 4'8". Coleman was also featured prominently in the 2005 expansion pack to Postal, Apocalypse Weekend. (1994). In the seventh season, after years of harassing Arnold (and later Sam), the Gooch was finally defeated by Arnold's neighbor and nemesis (and eventually friend) Carmella, a foreign exchange student. She performed some of the lyrics for the first season theme song. refused to let her appear in such a film. in early on -- Dana was chosen for the lead role in "The Exorcist" but her adoptive mother 's (Roger E. Mosley) son (from 1986 to 1988) in the television series Magnum, P.I. Bain died of natural causes Monday night in. in 1985-1986. The Dana Plato Tribute Site In 2017, she was diagnosed with bone cancer. "After Diff'rent Strokes I left my agent because I felt she wasn't where I got my start.". Unfortunately, he also seemed to be in denial at the seriousness of their problems. Steven Although in her first appearance, in the episode "Cyrano De Jackson", she is sweet on Arnold, in subsequent appearances, the pair were enemies, often squabbling and trading insults, a recurring theme until the end of the series (although Lisa's final appearance, in the penultimate episode of the show's run, "The Photo Club", sees the pair addressing their differences and striking a truce of sorts). to do next, I took part-time jobs in retail during my later high school Crying just like a man. He appeared as the grandpa in the 1990 movie, Postcards During the visit, Plato claimed she was ill and decided to take a nap. Additionally, stories focusing on Arnold's school life, which had featured occasionally in many previous seasons, were delved into much more. Rae starred as Mrs. Garrett (Mrs. G), who was the housemother at the prestigious Eastland School for Girls in Peekskill, New York. "Diff'rent Strokes," and Dana landed the part of Kimberly. but the scheme backfires when Drummond insists on a personal inspection of Arnold's grades, on "Diff'rent Strokes." Cast: Conrad Bain, Gary Coleman, Danny Cooksey, Mary Ann Mobley, and Todd Bridges . In 1997, he did a tv commercial for Klondike Ice Cream Bars as well as some for baseball on ESPN. She has worked in television on the "Just Jordan" and "So Random" kids show. in Los Angeles, California. nude pictorial did nothing to help revive her career, though, and Dana continued to languish 's Rap City, Take the Cake), In the final season (when the sitcom moved from NBC to ABC), the one-hour season opener ("Sam's Missing") revolved around Sam being kidnapped by Donald Brown (Royce D. Applegate), a bereaved father hoping to replace his own dead son, Tommy. "It's painful," Bain revealed. His mother took Shavar and his sister to Macon, Georgia, while his father went to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. of several times she went into rehab. ", Conrad Stafford Bain attended high school in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, deciding on his life's work after an appearance as the stage manager in a high school production of "Our Town.". Her ill-conceived grab for rent money (it was really a cry for help according to many people) sent her to jail [21] On May 26, 2010, Coleman, who had battled health problems since childhood caused by congenital kidney disease, was admitted to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Provo after falling and hitting his head after suffering a seizure. "Sesame Street's" early call time and busy shooting schedule proved difficult for Rae to manage. with the interest of my appearing as a guest artist on the show. on other TV comedies including Alice, Maude and Designing Women. He has since graduated from law school. In January 2007, he appeared as a member of the "mob" on the US version of the game show 1 vs. 100. Rae received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for the role in 1982. View our tribute at Sitcoms Online. probably best known for her role as Julia Sugarbaker in the tv series, Designing Women. In January of 1997, he was arrested after allegedly ramming a friends She also had a long career as a stage actress. defeated Vanilla Ice on a 2002 episode of Celebrity Boxing. games. Le Tari was one of those actors whose face is more recognized than his name. Get the best of Fox News' entertainment coverage, right in your inbox. The fifth season also continued the upturn of many more serious-themed stories, which became the epitome of "Very Special Episodes" in 1980s sitcoms,[citation needed] a trend that continued until the end of the show's run, the best-known example[11] being the fifth season's two-part story "The Bicycle Man" (originally broadcast on February 5 and 12, 1983), in which Arnold and Dudley are lured in by pedophilic bicycle shop owner Mr. Horton (Gordon Jump) who attempts to molest them. 'Diff'rent Strokes' star Gary Coleman dies (AP), Google News / TMZ / Wikipedia / The first and second seasons of Diff'rent Strokes also starred Conrad Bain, Gary Coleman, Todd Bridges and Dana Plato. Two years later, Ross became a voice actor for Hanna-Barbera. The reason for this, in part, was that it was in Rae's contract that she be allowed to return to Diff'rent Strokes should The Facts of Life be canceled. the show in Off Broadway's Shoestring Revue with the novelty song "Someone's Been Sending Me Flowers.". Daughter Chelsea Lynn Ross was born February 26, 2005. They are expecting their first child on March 22, 2012. their son Tyler Edward Lambert was born. Dana's mother, Florine 'Kay' Plato, who had guided her career died of a blood disease in January The whole experience was a thrilling 4 myself and my family. He also did a voice in a Sega Saturn game called "Return to Two hour-long episodes on the first season DVD are presented in their edited, two-part syndicated versions. They also have a daugther named Bo. As Sam, the son of Maggie McKinney, a new love interest and later wife of Phillip Drummond played by Dixie Carter, Danny was introduced to reverse the show's declining ratings. He was 9 episodes 1985-1986 Rosalind Chao Miss Chung 8 episodes 1981-1983 Dody Goodman Aunt Sophia Drummond 8 episodes 1981-1984 Bobby Herbeck The Waiter 7 episodes 1979-1984 Creators Jeff Harris Bernie Kukoff All cast & crew Production, box office & more at IMDbPro More like this 6.8 Watch options 7.4 Watch options 7.4 Watch options 7.1 Estranged from his adoptive parents, and embittered by his early fame, Coleman's life went into a downward spiral in the last two decades of his life. Show, and Mad TV. I now am 36 (updated), single (updated: he was engaged to be married in the spring of 2001), and an attorney On-screen this was explained with her character often said to be away at her private school; in reality the producers were still undecided whether the character was extraneous to the format, with the option that she could simply be faded into the background and written out as away studying should they choose to drop her. He appeared as a contestant on a 2006 celebrity episode of the Fear Factor, but was Wikipedia entry for Dana Plato - I'll bet Dudley there takes a sip every now and then. According to Reuters, he was lucid the following day but soon slipped into unconsciousness. [2] As a director, his first short film, Soul to Take (2003), garnered him an Internet distribution deal with Russell Simmons' media company Simmons/Lathan Media Group. Grammy-Award winning singer Al Jarreau and many others marked his feature film directorial debut. . Two unofficial docudramas were produced about the show: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has released Seasons 1 and 2 of Diff'rent Strokes on DVD in Region 1 & 4. She has several other movie and tv series Phillip Drummond is the only character to appear in every episode of the series. Lanny Lambert in December 1983. Coleman Productions was formed, for the purpose of starring the youngster in theatrical When the dispute was ultimately settled, Coleman returned to the series, missing only two more episodes (season 7's "The Gymnasts" and "Baseball Blues"). statute of limitations does not run out on deaths for seven years. Diff'rent Strokes (TV Series) Football Father (1980) a boy named Spencer Todd Bridges. [25] Plato died of a drug overdose in 1999 at age 34. Well, it turns out that viewers of the hit NBC show 30 Rock got a double-dose of Dudley name-dropping on an the 12th episode of Season 4 titled "Verna." (Tina Fey's character, Liz . According to Sgt. Dana and Lanny would divorce Small Claims Court (11/19/80 - #305) . The drugs used to treat Coleman stunted his growth. Despite these problems, he has Another episode ("Skin Deep or True Blue") is about Kimberly's new boyfriend, Roger Morehouse (played by Grant Wilson), not allowing his sister, Emily (Melora Hardin), to go to their school's costume ball with Willis because he is black. In January of 1992 she was arrested He has basically retired from the business since Diff'rent Strokes ended in 1986. "Alcohol became my drug of choice so I could get sleep at night," Rae told Fox News. In 1961, she became a regular on the NBC comedy "Car 54, Where Are You?" Bain died of natural causes Monday night in Livermore, Calif., at the age of 89. Currently, he runs Bischoff-Hervey Productions with Eric Bischoff. As he grew older, Coleman's "I am deeply saddened by the sudden passing of Conrad as we were looking forward to celebrating his 90th birthday next month," Bridges told FOX411 in a statement. [20] In 2007, Coleman was cited for disorderly conduct in Provo, Utah, for having a "heated discussion" with a woman. degree from UC Davis. Due to the popularity of Coleman's character, a spin-off series was briefly considered, to be titled Arnold and focusing on the character's school life[citation needed]. specials and movies such as The Chipmunk Adventure. In addition, she has 2 yoga As detailed by Oprah, Bridges avoided returning to jail by entering a year-long rehabilitation program. Other classmates and friends of Arnold seen over time included Robbie Jason (Steven Mond) and snobby Lisa Hayes (Nikki Swasey), who initially was sweet on Arnold, but later came to despise him, leading to hatred between the pair and many squabbles. She Rae next starred as Edna Garrett in Diff'rent Strokes, which premiered on NBC on November 3, 1978. He was casting a new sitcom for NBC which was to become In May 2006, Ross appeared on an E! in January of 1992, when In 1993, Bain had recently finished a six-year run co-starring as Dr. Arthur Harmon on the hugely successful Maude. I do list my acting "career" on my resume, so After her guest appearance at the end of the previous season, Plato returned making several further guest appearances in the final season and billed with the guest cast. in January of 1992, when Tragically, Ross found his own life mirroring the plot of "The Bicycle Man." During my time there, I performed as guest cast for one episode, which I decided wasn't September 2nd, 1938 in Denver, Colorado. The brainchild of Norman Lear, the mind behind such legendary situation comedies as "All in the Family," "The Jeffersons," and "Good Times," the show was a classic, fish-out-of-water tale with a modern twist. But the idea was dropped, both due to producers not wanting to water down the character's appeal in the main series, and deciding that the additional workload would be too much for Coleman. In early 2007, she opened up a upscale the web and also on Android and iOS. The success of the spin-off led to several Strokes/Facts crossovers in the ensuing years. Signed to a five-year contract with MGM in the early 1960s, Mobley became a successful actress. More in March of 1990 and Dana was allowed visitation of her son, but her husband won physical "It was difficult. RIP Gary. spontaneous cuteness faded. The third housekeeper, Pearl Gallagher, was played by Mary Jo Catlett, first appearing as a recurring character, later becoming a main cast member. In addition, he did a guest shot as Mr. Drummond on a May 20, 1996 episode "Conrad was the sweetest man in the world. Following Rae's departure midway through the second season, Nedra Volz took over as the housekeeper, the older and crankier Adelaide Brubaker, introduced in the episode "The Election". Rae appeared in every first season episode and part of the second season before she left for the spin-off series The Facts of Life. In October 1999, he was And Mary Dixie was born on July 6, 1970. She and her husband, series, coupled with the precocious Coleman's spirited TV talk show appearances, that Pearl thinks it was the housekeeper, Willis believes it was the teenage son, and though Kimberly's line gets faded out, it's safe to assume she suggests a character similar to her. The disease claimed her life in 2014. MyNetworkTV's new show, Decision House with his wife, Dori Bridges on the episode titled, 'Burned Bridges' aired on November 14th, 2007. He made an appearance on Vibe (a talk show hosted by Sinbad) along with Todd Bridges and Dana Plato on November 6th, 1997. He appeared as a contestant on the Fox reality show Skating with Celebrities, but was eliminated on the second episode of the show. In (Dana did grab a a bitter legal squabble between himself and his parents. Tragic Details About The Cast Of Diff'rent Strokes, Bobby Bank/Getty Images, Shout Factory TV, Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images/Shout Factory TV, Biography's "Diff'rent Strokes: Behind the Scenes,", "Killing Willis: From Diff'rent Strokes to the Mean Streets to the Life I Always Wanted,", refused to comment on his co-stars' troubles. Diagnosed with bone cancer the previous year, Charlotte Rae died August 5, 2018, at the age of 92. Diff'rent Strokes was initially devised to serve as a vehicle for both Conrad Bain and Gary Coleman. Jason Hervey , who played one of Arnold's friends Charlie in the alongside future "Munsters" stars Al Lewis and Fred Gwynne. (Coleman was featured in the 2004 season of The Surreal Life where he managed a restaurant at which From the very beginning, he was like a father to me," Bridges writes in his 2010 autobiography "Killing Willis." and "Superbad." Before being cast as Arnold Jackson in "Diff'rent Strokes," Coleman made memorable appearances on Lear's hit comedies "The Jeffersons" and "Good Times.". The second episode of the fifth season, "In The Swim", introduced Mary Jo Catlett as the rotund, ever-cheerful Pearl Gallagher, the last of the Drummond household's three maids. finished a movie with Todd Bridges. In 1998, Coleman was charged with assault after he punched a woman demanding an autograph while working as a security guard at a shopping mall. [19], In 1989 three years after the series ended, Coleman sued his parents and his former manager over misappropriation of his trust fund. When the laugh track stopped, he had to scrounge for work. "I really didn't want to do the show," Jackson writes. " My next job was as stage production assistant on 'Living Single'. In 1980, Ross landed his first recurring television role, on NBC's Diff'rent Strokes, as Dudley Johnson, the best friend of Gary Coleman's character, Arnold Jackson. Other recurring characters introduced over the third season included Le Tari as Dudley's adoptive father, Ted Ramsey (in the episode "Football Father"), Janet Jackson as Willis's girlfriend Charlene DuPrey and, in the fourth season episode "Kathy", Arnold's teacher Miss Chung, played by Rosalind Chao, who had played a different character in the third-season episode "Almost American", in which the regular cast only have minor roles, which served as the backdoor pilot for a potential sitcom focusing on the students of an immigration and naturalization class. She made her film debut in 1973 in Your Minutes Are Up as the "Free Press Lady" and went on to appear in more than close with anybody. statute of limitations does not run out on deaths for seven years. The final two episodes produced for the third season ("Growing Up" and "The Model") had originally been postponed due to a writer's strike,[citation needed] and the interspersing of these two episodes with the ones without Coleman taped at the start of the fourth season allowed the span of his absence to be broken down onscreen. alongside Richard Dean Anderson in a guest role on MacGyver; and a regenerated hellspawn in the episode "The Burning Man" from the Shavar Ross was born March 4, 1971 in the South Bronxm New York. Plato sank to a new low in 1991 when she was arrested for robbing a video store. herself. All rights reserved. Mary Jo Catlett , the third houskeeper Pearl Gallagher, was born He was acquitted in November 1989. The cast reunited at the TV Land Awards in 2007 and 2011, where it won the award for Pop Culture Icon. have enclosed a couple of recent pictures of myself, my resume with all co-starred with Harry Hamlin in holiday TV-movie on cable's Fox Family Channel called 'Like Father, Like Santa'. Bridges has traveled the U.S. speaking to over 6,000 kids per day in schools and churches discussing the dangers of drug use and negative peer pressure, and Plots that saw Mr. Drummond searching for love, and stories that mildly addressed racism were also sometimes featured. After finding out they missed the ending of the movie, Pearl, Willis and Kimberly walk to the kitchen. [34] On September 29, 2009, a "Fan Favorites" DVD was released. performance in the 1997 straight-to-video epic "Different Strokes." His daughter Jennifer told TMZ: "He was an amazing person. Alzheimer's complications. Dixie Carter,who played Mrs. Drummond for one They realize they don't like the effects of cigarettes, but the real persuasion to have them kick the habit comes from someone very close to home from Dudley - his father, whom despite having had a lung operation, is still a chronic smoker. He finished several different strokes dudley's dad. Dana moved in with rock guitarist time.) series Friday the 13th: A New Beginning in 1985 as "Reggie". Eventually, he was forced to file bankruptcy. But "Diff'rent Strokes" is remembered mostly for its child stars' adult drug and money troubles. Shavar Ross played Arnold's best friend Dudley on Dixie Carter and Danny Cooksey portrayed recently divorced television aerobics instructor Margaret "Maggie" McKinney and her son Sam. The cast reunited at the TV Land Awards in 2007 and 2011, where it won the award for Pop Culture Icon. It's a steamy Her ill-conceived grab for rent money (it was really a cry for help according to many people) sent her to jail Additionally, Arnold appeared on the Silver Spoons episode "The Great Computer Caper" and the Amazing Stories episode "Remote Control Man". The Please visit the links such as the Internet Movie Database and Wikipedia for the most up to date I stopped acting for several years. Yarn is the best way to find video clips by quote. for forging Valium prescriptions. I went to college for a year, but found it wasn't for me. He Plots focusing on Arnold and Sam also continued to feature prominently, with Willis by this stage appearing on a secondary, semi-regular basis. Ten-year-old Coleman, meanwhile, had caught producers' attention after appearing in a number of commercials and TV guest roles, and the previous year had starred in three pilot episodes by Lear that attempted to revive the Little Rascals film series of the 1920-40s. Looking for a new start, she moved to Las Vegas and took a job working for a dry cleaning service for $5.75 an hour, as per Biography. My Mom and Dad were approached by the producers of Diff'rent Strokes and shattering lows. I love them all.". Cited for parole violation, she served 30 days He studied at Alberta's Banff School of Fine Arts, served Rae eventually made it to Broadway where, in 1956, she landed the role of Mammy Yokum in "Li'l Abner." Sexually assaulted by his trusted publicist at age 12, Bridges was left feeling confused and betrayed. seemingly effortless way with comedy won her lots of fans during the show's prime time As with Bridges, Rae was offered the role without audition, but was locked into a contract with CBS; however, Lear was determined to have Rae for the role and used his influence to convince CBS to release her from her contract, freeing her up to be available for the role. The Facts of Life main cast included Lisa Whelchel, Kim Fields, Mindy Cohn and Nancy McKeon (1980-1988). [citation needed]. She also appeared in the Los Angeles cast of Moore Hour, CHiPs, Just Our Luck, St. She remained with the show until its cancellation at NBC. [3][4] During the first season and the first half of the second season, Charlotte Rae also starred, as Mrs. Edna Garrett, the Drummonds' first housekeeper, who ultimately spun off into her own sitcom, The Facts of Life, as a housemother at the fictional Eastland School.
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